


Touch and Feeling

by Capnbriefler



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Forced Marriage, Frost Giants are awesome, Intersexuality, M/M, Odin's A+ Parenting, Rampant racism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-11-22 08:25:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/607807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capnbriefler/pseuds/Capnbriefler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A result of reading several 'the lay of thrym' themed fics that left me feeling unsatisfied. Thor looses Mjolnir to the frost giant Thrym, who demands Loki's hand in marraige as trade. Loki makes many discoveries about his own body and nature, as well as the character of his family (biological and adopted). And Laufey schemes and plots to keep the child he lost so many years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Kids Aren't All Right

**Author's Note:**

> 1) This story takes place before much the events in the movie Thor take place. Thor, Loki, Sif and the Warriors three have already made thier ill-advised trip to Jotunhiem, but Thor was not banished due to the business with loosing Mjolnir
> 
> 2) Loki did not let the Jotun into the weapons vault, Jotunhiem has many accomplished sorcerers of their own (though nobody knows about them) and they where the ones that transported the Jotun soldiers.
> 
> 3) Italicised text is meant to represent a flashback, or a character remembering something said in the past.

Loki, second prince of Asgard, most powerful sorcerer in at least five realms, and god of mischief and fire, was being sold to a Jotun nobleman. Sold! As if her were a common whore that Odin and Thor could trade out in payment of goods.

Frigga had tried to comfort him, to explain the importance in regaining mjolnir from the Jotun lord Thrym. True, mjolnir was a powerful weapon, one that could destroy all of Asgard should it fall to the wrong hands. Loki however, saw only the fact that Thor had made yet another blunder, and that Loki was once again the one to pay the price. Frigga had left when it became obvious that her attempts to reason with her adopted son fell upon deaf ears. Loki tried not to let the twinge of pain bother him. He had wanted her to stop trying to defend Odin and Thor, but he had not wished for her to leave.

Loki was sitting on his bed, waiting to be summoned to the Bifrost. Thrym would soon be coming to claim his demanded ransom for Mjolnir, Loki’s hand in marriage. When the Jotun messenger had stood before the great throne and named Thrym’s price for the stolen hammer, Loki had thought that Odin would never accept. Loki had thought that, while Odin’s love for his second son had never been very strong and had waned his true heritage had been revealed during the incident, that he at least prized him above a weapon that would be useless in the hands of any but Thor. Loki had been wrong, Odin had agreed to give Thrym of Jotunhiem his adopted son to marry. He had taken no more than the time of a single breath to make this decision before sending the messenger away.

_“See reason brother!”_ Thor’s loud, boorish voice still echoed in Loki’s thoughts, “ _If mjolnir is to remain in the hands of the Frost-giants, there is no telling what damage those beasts will wreak upon Asgard and the rest of the nine realms_ ” Thor often forgot that Loki himself was a Jotun, and comments on the barbaric nature of the frost people were common. Loki only felt mild irritation at the mindless barb. The insinuation that Loki was the one in the wrong was what angered the young sorcerer, nay it infuriated him! He had been about to tell Thor just what he thought of this when Odin interrupted.

_“You will do as you are told Liesmith.”_ The Allfalther’s voice was soft and cold, needing no force to show his strength. The harsh words cut deep in the trickster’s heart _“You will do this, or you will be punished.”_ Loki’s thoughts at once turned to the memories of removing leather cords from his own lips; of Thor holding him down and sewing his mouth closed while all of the court looked on and laughed; of Frigga watching in perfect calm as her son was tortured. Loki rather felt that experiencing that again would be worth it if he did not have to leave the only home he had ever known to live among his worst enemies. Do your worst, you old fool!

_“No Loki,”_ Odin’s voice cut through the bitter memories, _“that was nothing compared to what will await you if you defy me now.”_ The old buzzard could read minds? Loki could already feel defeat looming over him. “ _Your penalty will not end this time, you will be made to suffer for all time. You will be imprisoned in the very bowls of our dungeons, never to see the light of day again. Your pain will never cease. You will writhe in screaming agony for all eternity.”_

The speech was a bit longer than necessary, one would almost think that Odin had prepared it for when he would next need to threaten his son. Even Thor had seemed pale when the Allfather was through. He had even looked to be about to speak out against such an act, but seemed to remember himself and quickly assumed an agreeing expression. So typical of the Thunderer, throwing aside his precious honour so easily. Why bother fighting for justice and honour when the only victim is Loki Liesmith?

So Loki had relented, agreed to go to Jotunhiem as trade, and was taken from Odin’s throne room by armed guards and deposited in his chambers. As if he were some common criminal! No one had come to speak to him since Frigga had left, although one of his guards had attempted a kind word before being muffled by his partner. “It’ll be all right.” the man had said, moving to lay a hand on Loki’s shoulder before being all but dragged from the room by the other guard.

No, Loki thought. As he sat on his bed he could hear the crackle of the bifrost, announcing the arrival of his betrothed.. It will most certainly will not be all right.


	2. All Along the Watchtower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Thrym comes to fetch Loki, lot's of racism, ignorance and verbal pownage.

Lord Thrym of Thrymhiem arrived in Asgard via the whirlwind of the Bifrost. This had not been his first time using such transportation, but the last had been so long ago he had forgotten how nauseating it could be. To watch the rainbow of the bridge flash before your eyes faster than a person’s mind could register the colors; to feel the 9 realms bend around you like waves in water; to hear the roar of the wormhole in your ears like a thousand raging dragons; it was disconcerting.

The arrival faired no better. As Thrym stepped out into the oppressive sunshine of Asgard his “welcoming party” drew back with an audible gasp of fear. More than one of the dozen or so soldiers arranged around the entrance to the Bifrost drew their swords at the sight of him. Such fear still? It had been almost 500 years since the great war ended, surely the Aesir were not still harbouring fear of the Jotun. Hatred perhaps, one never truly stops hating an enemy after all. But fear? The Aesir had won the war, crippled Jotunhiem, and still they feared him? Such weak-minded creatures, to be so effected. The Jotun had spent the 5 centuries since the great war rebuilding their world, it seams the Aesir had spent it in paranoid nightmares of their enemy’s revenge. Thrym smirked, causing several of the Aesir soldiers to tense, fear made one stupid and so easy to manipulate.

Before the soldiers could loose their nerve completely and attack the Jotun Lord (or run, screaming, to their mothers’ breasts) the sounds of hooves echoed across the bridge. A group of men on horses could be seen riding towards the Bifrost. The king of Asgard approached.

But Prince Loki was not among them. Thrym scanned each of the Aesir faces for the one his king had described. The prince lost to them long ago. News had trickled down to Jotunhiem that the second prince had been revealed to be a “rescued” Jotun orphan. Jotun sorcerers of King Laufey’s court had determined, using their scrying abilities and endless patience, that the second prince of Asgard was in fact the lost prince of Jotunhiem. The one that disappeared from the temple in the disastrous final battle of the great war. That is why Laufey ordered Thrym to steal the Thunderer’s hammer for leverage. Lord Thrym was only too happy to aid his king in the rescue of his long lost child, but that child was not here.

“Where is Prince Loki” the Jotun boomed just as the party galloped up to meet him and the Aesir king had opened his mouth to speak first. Odin frowned instead, annoyed that he should be cut off.

“Has Jotun culture degraded so completely that a lord has no knowledge of how to properly greet a king? In his own kingdom no less? All but on his own doorstep?” the Aesir-king replied, causing the golden haired boy at his side (along with the rest of his contingent) to smirk.

“Perhaps,” Thrym allowed, “our world was so devastated by your unwarranted attack during our Holy Time that we have scarcely survived, etiquette seems not so important when your people wither and children starve. But we have not gone so far as to forget why an invited guest has come, or to greet them with open malice and drawn weapons.” here he looked with meaning at the soldiers who first “greeted” him, many with their swords still held in threatening manner.

Odin sent the soldiers a withering glance, making them wince and finally sheath their weapons. The Allfather then moves to speak again when the golden haired boy beat him to it, “Unwarranted?” the question was bellowed with righteous fury, “What would your kind know of such a thing? And what madness speak you about holy days? The Jotun are mere barbarians, they have no gods to worship!” The boy, Prince Thor as Thrym now recognised, spoke such hateful words so easily. As if there was no earthly reason that they should be wrong. The Aesir had indeed been stewing in their hate and fear, to have such a vile effect. And so readily accepted by the others, all turning to their prince (without taking their eyes off the Jotun of course) and nodding like stupid sheep.

Thrym grew worried for Prince Loki, more so at least than he had been already, to have grown in such a hateful environment must have caused him great harm. Thrym looked to Thor, his gaze as cold as the wind of his homeland. The young prince at first tried to meet his gaze with a fire to match Thrym’s ice, but was soon squirming under the Jotun lord’s oppressive gaze.

“It is worrisome Odin-king, that your son can speak so assuredly and with such hate for a place and people he has never visited.” Here Thrym looked to the Allfather again, the golden prince ignored. “It is even more worrisome that he speaks so ill of a race he knows his younger brother to be a part of.”

“He is-” The Allfather began only to be interrupted.

“It is even _more_ worrisome, that Prince Loki is not yet here. Seeing as I am here to escort _Loki_ to Jotunhiem in preparation for our marriage and not _you_ Allfather, or your boorish child, it would make much sense for my betrothed to be here would it not?” Thrym’s speech sent the Aesir into varying levels of fury; the soldiers on the ground muttering darkly and once again handling their weapons; the horsemen flanking the king and golden prince shouting out their rage, hissing and spitting insults; Thor bellowing along with them, many ‘how dare you’s’ and ‘owe respect’s’ and other such foolishness; but it was the Allfather’s reaction that had Thrym holding back his chuckles. The old man’s face had gone beet-red with rage, lips pursed so tightly his mouth resembled a dog’s anus.

“You will hold your tongue Frost-Giant!” the Asgardian kind shouted, “Loki will come forth when I summon him, _after_ you have returned Mjolnir to my son. Then, and _only_ then will you be permitted to take Loki to Jotunhiem to marry.” The king sneered and held himself straight upon his eight-legged horse, flanked by his golden son and warriors. He obviously thought himself quite the impressive figure and Thrym could not help but laugh. So laugh he did, threw back his head and fairly roared with laughter! Oh, and if Odin’s face had been red before, now he nearly glowed!

“You heard my father, creature! Hold your tongue!” The golden boy had decided the laughter was just too much, and had climbed down from his horse and now stood in front of Thrym. “You will cease this laughter and hand over Mjolnir now or I will kill you where you stand!” This of course was not helpful to promote Thrym’s seriousness. Such a ridiculous figure the prince cut, standing 2 feet below the Jotun lord and armed with an obviously borrowed sword. But the lord did manage to stifle his chuckles, there was more important things now than his merriment.

The horsemen now looked quite worried however, eying their prince and the Jotun with apprehension. The king as well had lost much of his color, and harshly summoned his son back to his side. Thor did not move, still glaring up at Thrym. Waiting for him to back down and give over the hammer, Thrym realized. Well this was far enough, time to end this foolishness.

“Why in the nine would I give up Mjolnir now?” he asked the foolish prince, “You would simply kill me, and Prince Loki would remain here in Asgard.” Thor looked to be about to speak again, his face contorted with more righteous fury, but Thrym continued, “No, you will present Prince Loki first. He and I will then travel to Jotunhiem and be wed, then your precious hammer will be sent back to you. This is my only offer.”

“You push too far Frost-Giant,” spat Thor, “If you do not produce Mjolnir now it will mean war!” This statement was followed by shock and fear from the horsemen and an expression of extreme exasperation from Odin. Thrym’s smirk returned.

“Asgard breaks its treaties so easily?” the lord questioned sarcastically, “And you used to prize your honour, heralded throughout the realms. Funny that you should break your word so easily for a child’s toy. You’ll be the laughing stalk of all of the nine realms Odin.” In the last he looked to Odin, again ignoring the foolish prince.

Odin’s face had gone white and pinched, but held no less rage. “Stand down Thor.” he said to his son.

“But father!”

“Do not question me boy!” Odin’s rage now focused on Thor, “Stop your childish complaints and fetch your brother.” Thor hesitated, expression beseeching his father to change his mind. “NOW!” The scream made all the Aesir jump, cringing in fear of the Allfather’s wrath. Thor, an honest to goodness pout set upon his lips, stomped to his horse and rode off. The tension in the air could be felt upon the skin, it was so thick. Thrym of course, was thrilled.

“I am so glad you saw reason Allfather, after all it would be disgraceful to go to war over such a little hammer.” A vein began to twitch in Odin’s forehead. Thrym’s smirk grew.


	3. I'd Love to Change the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki heads off to Jotunhiem. Contains a lot more racism and arrogance, some Loki whump, angst, and more verbal pownage by Thrym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is going to get a lot more angsty before it gets better. But don't worry! Loki will get cuddles soon, and I hope to ease Thor into being less arrogant and cruel in later chapters.

Loki had no idea what Lord Thrym had done to make Thor so angry, but if the golden fool didn’t slow down soon Loki's arm might just come clean off.  


"Thor, please, slow down." the plea was met with stony silence, not that Loki expected any less. When Thor was in a foul mood it often ended up being Loki he used to vent his frustration on. Loki remembered an incident with the head cook when they were quite young, where Thor had been caught stealing pastries and was denied dessert for a week as punishment. Loki had received a black eye when he asked his brother what was wrong. Come to think of it, that may have been the point where the two brothers had started to drift apart.

Loki was distracted from his trip down memory lane by a particularly sharp corner. The joint of his shoulder giving an ominous creak, Loki decided that it might serve him better if he focused on keeping up with his brother rather than reminiscing. They were nearly running now (well Loki was nearly running, Thor's longer legs were difficult to keep up with) and every so often Loki could see a servant peeking out of a door. The princes were moving to quickly for Loki to tell whether they were looking out to laugh at the Jotun freak or if they were simply worried by Thor's obvious bad mood. Not that it much mattered anymore, Thor had dragged them to the palace entrance. Loki could see Thor's horse waiting outside, a servant boy holding its reins. 

"Get on Loki." Thor's words were quick and sharp, as he all but threw his younger brother towards the animal. That was the final straw! Loki might be a Jotun, and Odin might have effectively declared Mjolnir as more important; but Loki would be damned if he was going to just bow his head and submissively follow orders like the whore Odin seemed to think he was! 

"Such a temper brother dear," Loki began in needling a tone he knew Thor hated, "such a hard time you must be having, loosing Mjolnir for an entire day." here he turned and smirked at Thor. "They say a man that can’t handle his weapon is rather useless when handling his other ‘tool’. Are you afraid that the lovely maidens of Asgard are going to question your manhood?"

"Hold your tongue!" Thor's response was all but hissed in rage. From his stance, Loki was sure that only the absence of Thor's favourite weapon spared him from a severe blow. The older prince was all but shaking with fury, so much that he seemed to have forgotten the borrowed sword on his belt. Though Loki's face retained it's sneer, internally he felt great fear. A fear he had begun to feel when he was still a child and had felt almost every day since. It was the fear that his family really would kill him, that they really did not feel any affection for him. This was a fear that Odin, and now Thor, had finally proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Fearful or not, Loki would not allow Thor to know of this weakness. "Do you wish to kill me Thor?" The golden prince flinched at this, as if slapped. "Do you wish you had your great hammer here so you could beat me into the ground? I wonder what the people of Asgard would think of this side of their favourite prince. This blood thirst." Thor relaxed his stance then, actually appearing guilty. 

"Loki, brother, I apologize. I did not been to make you feel threatened."

"Threatened dear brother? By you? Why ever would I feel threatened? Is it not every person's dream to be sold like chattel by their own family and then pushed around like so much trash?" Loki refused to admit that his voice had risen in pitch towards the end, or that his smirk was quickly loosing it's contemptuous quality. Thor, thankfully, seemed not to notice and returned to his previous anger.

"You know of why this must be done Loki, a true warrior would not be so resentful of his duties!" Thor's voice had risen to a shout. The servant, still holding the horse's reins, cringed fearfully. But Loki could shout too.

"A true warrior! I am not a true warrior because I dislike being traded for a hunk of metal lost by some oafish fool?" 

Perhaps Loki should have been expecting the slap, but, never-the-less, he suddenly found himself lying on the ground, a band of fire across his cheek. Looking up at his brother, Loki saw none of the earlier guilt. The only emotions visible upon Thor's face were anger and contempt. 

"One day you will learn respect, Liesmith."

"One day perhaps, but never for you" This time the blow knocked him unconscious.

************

Thrym found himself actually relieved when he could see Prince Thor's horse approaching in the distance. While watching the Aesir warriors twitch was quite entertaining, their sneers of contempt and assumed superiority was beginning to tire him. 

However, as the dot that was prince Thor’s horse came closer, thrym felt a combination of excitement and anxiousness creeping over him. On one hand, the completion of a successful scheme had always made him a little giddy; on the other hand, from what he had seen of the aesir so far they were a backwards and ignorant race. He could not think of any reason why they would have treated loki well. Though they had not known that Loki was a Jotun up until a short time ago, it was doubtful that their treatment of the young prince had not been effected by his heritage. 

For one, Jotun and Aesir have markedly different temperaments. Jotnar are, as Thrym would like to think, a very clever race. They have had to be in order to survive in a place such as Jotunhiem, where the only other animals are enormous beasts that are capable of gutting the much smaller Jotnar in a flat second, and the very climate of the planet works against them. Because of Jotunhiem’s inhospitable nature, even young Jotnar are more likely to plan and strategise than fight. This is encouraged in adulthood. A Jotun warrior is taught never to waste time or blood in a fight he knows he could never win, such foolishness is not tolerated.

The Aesir, living in the much more peaceful atmosphere here on Asgard, did not require to evolve this more cunning nature. The most impressive creature here was a wild boar, which as Thrym’s memory serves, was not much of a challenge to hunt. The climate as well is warm and bright, always a perfect temperature no matter the time of year. Due to this much more accommodating realm, the Aesir had evolved to always use their force against an enemy. Since simple strength had always served them well, they had never developed to use more cunning methods. Their training as warriors also added to this, Aesir warriors are trained to never back down from a fight, to do so is considered cowardly.

This difference, combined with the fact that Aesir obviously fear and hate what is different, meant that Loki would have been an outcast, even if they thought him one of their own. Loki, a Jotun, was likely far more clever than the average Áss (not to say that Thrym thought the Aesir innately dull witted, only ignorant of ways different than their own) and would dislike needless combat. From what Thrym had heard of Loki, much gathered when he was still thought to be a son of Odin, he was a scholar and an accomplished sorcerer. This likely led the Aesir to see Loki as a coward, and for them to shun. 

Another, far less innocuous but just as likely, reason that Thrym thought Loki might have been mistreated, was Odin. The rest of Asgard had thought that Loki was an Aesir like them. Whatever differences he may have had he was still one of their own and a prince as well. The general public of Asgard would have treated him with respect, even if they thought him a coward, they would have to. Odin on the other hand, knew of Loki’s heritage. He would have to have known, being the only one of his household that could have stolen the child from Jotunhiem all those centuries ago. Thrym had serious doubts that Odin had treated Loki in the same manner as his real son. If the old buzzard had loved his adopted child he would never had agreed to this trade. Thrym was willing to bet the tip of his own nose that Odin’s cold attitude towards his “second son” had been picked up on by other members of the court. Those whose station was high enough that respect towards the second prince was not so necessary likely treated him in a similarly distant nature. 

Thrym was interrupted from his worry by the Princes’ arrival at the Bifrost. At last, Loki was almost home! Thrym turned towards the horse and it’s two riders fully, as to greet his betrothed, when he noticed something was wrong. Loki was not riding the horse with Thor but was lying on his stomach across the creatures back. For a moment Thrym was so stunned he could only think that this was a very odd way to ride a horse (Thrym had never ridden a horse but it seemed common practice to sit on it). Then, when Prince Thor dismounted and Loki continued to lie there, with his head and arms hanging limply down the creature’s side Thrym realized he was unconscious. Something was very wrong. 

************

Loki came to slowly and painfully. His head was throbbing like the beat of an obnoxious drum. I bet Thor’s the one banging on that stupid thing, he thought as his head continued to ache. All that yelling isn’t helping either. Wait, yelling? Who was yelling? And now that he could focus a little more he realized that there was a full scale argument going on around him. Not only that, someone was holding him in their arms. He supposed that he should have been worried about that, after all, Loki had never had a good experience with close contact with another person. But he still hadn’t woken completely and the arms holding him where strong and they were supporting his head and body comfortably. It wasn’t worth the effort to care about it yet. 

“How dare you speak to us that way, monster!” hmm, that sounded like Thor’s voice. He sounded angry and self righteous. Nothing new there. 

“You have little moral ground to stand on Thunderer.” This voice was unfamiliar. A deep rumbling voice that reminded Loki of water in a brook. Loki liked that voice, it sounded strong and gentle at the same time. He wondered who this person was. 

“That is not the issue here Thrym.” Oh, Loki knew that voice. It was Odin’s. He sounded authoritative and angry, like he usually did when speaking with foreign dignitaries. He liked to make them as uncomfortable as possible, that way they would let him walk all over them. The old bastard was crafty. Loki wondered briefly why Odin was allowed to trick and manipulate people and he wasn’t. Why was Loki always persecuted for doing things that other people did too? 

“Not the issue?” The new voice was angry now, “Your fatherly concern is truly touching Odin-king.” Fatherly concern? Was Thor hurt? This seemed like it would be a good time for Loki to figure out what was going on. When he tried to open his eyes however, the lead weights attached to the lids seemed against that plan. Oh well, best to just keep them closed then.

“The issue we need to discuss,” Odin’s voice was getting even angrier now, this stranger was in deep trouble, “is that you need to hand over Mjolnir now.”

“We have kept our part of the bargain Jotun!” Thor again, he didn’t sound hurt.

“You all have a very short memory.” This stranger was either very brave or very stupid. “I believe I already told you that isn’t going to happen. After the ceremony is over I will send Mjolnir back to you.”

“That is unacceptable!” Loki could hear swords being drawn and fought towards consciousness, this was going to be bad.

“And how do you think you will get Mjolnir back if you kill me boy?” a vague feeling in the back of Loki’s mind told him he should be worried by that statement, but he was still too foggy to remember.

“We will storm your keep and take it by force if you refuse to see reason!”

“If I refuse to see reason?” A dark chuckle made the flesh Loki was leaning against vibrate faintly. “Your father agreed to these terms Odinson, it is hardly my fault that he has forgotten them. Would you like to read the contract Odin-king? It still bears your signature.”

“The contract stated that-” Odin began but was cut off.

“That Mjolnir would be returned to you pending the completion of the marriage ceremony between myself and Loki, not at your ‘very doorstep’ as you called it.” Loki very suddenly remembered why he should be worried. Through fear he managed to open his eyes; but found himself unable to move, held firmly in the arms of a tall Jotun. This must be Lord Thrym. He had not seemed to have noticed that Loki was conscious yet, or was preoccupied by the half dozen or so swords pointed in his direction. “Surely you don’t want all the nine to know of what a treacherous snake you really are, that you would break your word?” Hmm, maybe Thrym wasn’t as worried about the swords as Loki was. Turning his head to look at his father, Loki found the Allfather all but glowering at the Jotun.

“Very well then,” Odin seethed through clenched teeth, “you will return Mjolnir by sundown or we will come looking for it.” Both he and Thor, who Loki saw now was standing next to his father, stood tall and proud following this statement. Their capes flowed out behind them and the Asgardian sun shone brightly on their golden hair. They looked absolutely ridiculous, and had Loki’s own situation not been so bad he might have laughed. Thrym laughed instead. Had he not been about to be sold to this Jotun, Loki might actually be starting to like him.

“That will not be possible Odin-king, an average marriage ceremony among my people lasts several days. A royal wedding takes up to two weeks.” The Aesir crowd stood stunned for a moment, Thor and Odin frozen in their heroic poses.

“Lies!” Thor was the first to recover. “There is no way that the ceremony lasts that long, you are simply trying to betray us!”

“You said yourself that you would be willing to storm into Jotunhiem and steal it back if I betray you, and likely murder many of my countrymen in the process. Why would I do that?” 

“How should I know why a filthy frost giant does anything? Father this had gone-” This time Thor was cut off, but this time by Heimdall.

“Lord Thrym speaks the truth.” Loki could not see the gatekeeper from his position in Thrym’s arms, but he sounded as monotonous as ever. At least one person’s life wasn’t being terribly disturbed.

“What do you say Heimdall?” asked Odin, his voice having lost some of the bravado of earlier. This should not have scared Loki as much as it did, his animosity for his father running deep. The Allfather sounding unsure of himself, however, scared Loki very much. His chances of getting out of this were dwindling fast, faster still when Heimdall spoke again.”

“I have seen Jotunhiem’s wedding ceremonies,” Asgard’s gatekeeper began, “As I have seen all ceremonies of the like across the nine realms. Jotun weddings do take several days to complete; for those of noble blood, they take much longer.” 

“There now,” Thrym spoke again, a smirk obvious in his voice, “you have reassurance from your beloved watchdog that all is well. Now if you will excuse me, my betrothed needs a healer before the opening ceremony.” With that closing statement, and with the Aesir congregation standing stunned and lost, the Jotun turned and walked towards the Bifrost. Loki twisted his head around to look back, his last view of his brother and father was of their slack-jawed expressions. He wondered briefly if they had intended to get the Jotun to hand over Mjolnir and then simply kill him, or if their arrogant demands for the situation to go their way simply made it look like that. 

It was not until the bifrost began to swarm up around them and pull him away from his home that Loki realized that his mother had not come to say goodbye. The small sob that escaped his lips was swallowed by the fury of the Bifrost’s storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has anyone figured out where I'm getting the chapter titles yet?


	4. House of the Rising Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frigga learns of the events on the Bifrost, and Odin learns of his wife's wrath.

Frigga watched the light from the bifrost flash for a second time. Loki’s “betrothed” had come and gone. The Asgardian queen hoped the Allfather’s plan had succeeded. It was a risky business, trying to cheat the Jotnar. She wished for the thousandth time since this whole business had begun that she could have been there. Odin, however, had forbidden it, reasoning that convincing the Jotnar to give up Mjolnir without getting Loki in return would be difficult enough without her interfering. He had finished by saying that if Frigga were present her “overprotective tendencies” would likely foul the plan up.

Frigga had not thought that she had ever behaved overly protective of either of her sons. Thor had been more than capable of taking care of himself since he was very small, having thrown himself into combat training at an early age. Loki on the other hand, had kept closer to her as he had been much smaller than the other children his age and was often unable to keep up in play. That being said, she had never stopped him when he decided to seek out more adventurous play. It was Frigga’s opinion that limiting a child in such a way, preventing them from becoming independent, would seriously hamper their ability to function as an adult.

As the Goddess of Motherhood, Frigga’s decisions regarding her children were rarely questioned. Generally, it was accepted that she knew what was best for hers, or any other child. The king of Asgard, however, was as exempt from this social rule as he was from many others. He often criticised his queen’s parenting techniques, particularly when it came to Loki.

Loki though, had always been different from Thor. It is to be expected that two different children would require two different parenting techniques. What Odin did, he did out of love. Frigga was sure of it. When he criticised her decisions and actions, he was only trying to ensure that Loki’s special needs were taken care of; when he pushed the boys to train, he only wanted them to be able to defend themselves. 

That had to be why he did it, it had to.

The door to the Royal Bedchambers opened, and Frigga turned to meet her king and ask after the success of his plan. The look on Odin’s face stopped her short. He was furious. 

“What has happened,” she asked hurriedly, “was someone injured in the struggle?” She knew that the Jotun lord would have reacted violently when he realized he’d been tricked, it was in his nature. 

Odin crossed to the high-backed armchairs in front of the fireplace, and sat heavily. He then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and stared into the fire broodingly. Frigga stayed where she was by the window for a moment, unsure of what to do. It was always so difficult to deal with these situations, when Odin was too furious to even speak to her. It was certainly not that she was afraid of her husband, he was a kind and gentle man, that would never hurt a fly. Really! But when he was angry like this Frigga was never sure what she should say to help, or if she should even say anything. It was all very awkward. 

The Asgardian queen eventually summoned her courage and approached the chair beside the one Odin was seated in. She sat down slowly and carefully, making very little noise. Then she waited. What she was waiting for, she was not sure. But Odin had always been the driving force in any conversation they had ever had, without him to start this one, and with him in obviously such a bad mood, she didn’t know where to start. 

“H-husband?” Frigga began tentatively, “what has happened?” For a long moment, Frigga thought that Odin was simply going to ignore her. Thankfully, he raised his head and looked at his wife, opening his mouth to speak. His expression still held the fury it had before, but now as he looked to his queen his eyes held an emotion they rarely had before. Guilt. 

Odin hesitated before speaking, his mouth still open as if he didn’t know where to begin. “Frigga, I….” he trailed off before beginning again, “The Jotun took Loki.”

Frigga’s body went cold in an instant, as if someone had poured a bucket of water over her head. She felt herself begin to shake with fear, how many of their soldiers had they lost? Frigga knew that Odin would never have allowed them to take Loki without a fight. No wonder his eyes held guilt, to have lost the lives of his soldiers and still failed in his goal, it must be heartbreaking.

“How, many husband?” Odin’s head, which had fallen to look at the fireplace after his statement, came back up to Frigga’s with eyebrows raised in question, “how many warriors were lost in the fight?” she elaborated. Already her heart could barely stand the guilt, but she needed to know what happened. She needed to be strong for her people and remain appraised of the situation so that she could help Odin in deciding his next move.

Odin’s eyebrows now scrunched together in further confusion. “What do you mean Frigga? None were lost, there was no battle.” Frigga’s body had run cold at the news of the failed plan, but now it felt numb, as if she were no longer inside of it.

“I…I don’t understand.” even her tongue felt numb and clumsy, “How did they take Loki without a fight? You said that you would not allow them to take our son!” at the last sentence her voice had begun to rise, so that when she said the last word she was almost shrieking. A fire had sparked inside her, driving away the numbness and cold from before. Leaving behind only white-hot anger. Odin’s brow was still furrowed, but now in annoyance rather than confusion. 

“There was no other way, the Jotun did not have the Hammer with him, and refuses to produce it until after he and Loki have been married.” Odin had moved from annoyance back to the anger that he had shown upon first entering their chambers.

There was a time, in the beginning of their marriage, when Frigga had tried to argue with her husband. It had been a simple matter, a disagreement between them as to the taxation in a small rural region in Asgard. The harvests that year had been poor, and the peasants living on the land were unable to pay their taxes and still be able to feed themselves and their families. They had petitioned the king for a temporary lowering of their taxes, and Frigga had urged her husband to consider it. 

His response had been cruel and hurtful, and had cut Frigga to the bone. Since then she had never been able to bring herself to oppose her husband in any matter. She would only offer her opinion when it was asked of her, and even then she crafted her response on what she thought Odin wished to hear, not her own thoughts. Every time she found herself on the opposing side of an argument with Odin, Frigga had felt only fear and shame.

Not this time, this time her anger matched her husband’s. 

“You allowed him to take my child?”, she stood from her chair and screamed in Odin’s face, “You let that monster take my baby?”

“If I had not, we would never be able to get Mjolnir back.”

“That is a lie!” shock flashed across Odin’s face at these words, “You boast constantly about your military prowess! Your ‘brilliant’ strategic manoeuvres have been a topic of the bard’s music for centuries! Yet you claim that the only way you could think to get Mjolnir back was to SELL MY CHILD?” The door to their chambers opened and several guards entered, likely thinking that the royal couple were being attacked. What they saw was the Queen standing threateningly over her husband. The King, still in his chair, appeared not to know whether to be furious or worried.

The royal couple ignored them. “You forget that entering Jotunhiem without permission would violate our treaty. If I simply sent a force into take Mjolnir back by force, it would restart the war.”

“The Jotnar are powerless Odin! You seem to have forgotten this, but you took the Casket of Ancient Winters when you invaded the capital! How would the Jotnar do anything to start another war? Without the Casket they have no means of travelling or attacking other realms!”

“There are other ways of travelling the realms, a sorcerer would be able to find the cracks in Yiggdrasyl to do so.”

“And you think that they have a sorcerer capable of this and, for whatever reason, have just not used it for the last 500 years to be ever so convenient for you?!” Odin paused at this and Frigga continued, “And now the 'genius' King of Asgard has handed them one of the most powerful sorcerers in all of the nine realms on a silver platter!”

“Now wait a moment woman-”

“Don’t you interrupt me Odin! I have let you talk for the last three thousand years, now it’s my turn!”

“I am you king! You will obey me!”

“And I am your Queen! Consult your law texts husband mine, you do not have the power over me that you think you do!” At this point the guards had slunk back out of the room, closing the door quietly behind them. The royal couple had not noticed either their coming or going.

“I am still-”

“You have betrayed your son! You have shown him that you hold no value on his life, and that you will not protect him. What do you think is going through his mind right now? Do you even care that he is likely scared, standing in enemy territory, about to be defiled by a Frost Giant?”

“I doubt the Jotun will harm him, he seemed most concerned for his welfare when-” This time Odin cut himself off, eyes widening almost imperceptibly. Frigga’s own eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“When What, Odin! What happened that he would be concerned for Loki!” 

“It was nothing really,” Odin raised his hands in a placating gesture, “Thor was just a bit rough when I sent him to collect his brother.”

“WHAT! HAPPENED!” Odin was beginning to look frightened, Frigga had never spoken to him this way. When he hesitated to answer her, she advanced again. Now with her face mere inches away from Odin’s, and sparks of magic playing about her fingers.

“H-h-he….w-was knocked unconscious.” Odin cringed as he stuttered out the words, fearing how this new side of his wife would react to the news. Instead of a violent reaction however, Frigga seemed to deflate. All the energy that her anger had given her was now gone and her head and arms drooped limply, her shoulders shaking slightly. 

“Frigga I-” he trailed off as Frigga turned without looking up and returned to her chair. She slumped down into the seat and put her head in her hands. Odin sat stalk till, at a loss for words and fearful that he would set her off again.

When Frigga’s sobs became audible though, he knelt before her chair and tried to comfort her. He gave soft promises that all would be well, and that he would get their child back if it was the last thing he did. It was some time before Frigga finally raised her head. Eyes puffy and red, she looked at her husband and whispered, “We all have failed Loki. Perhaps he is better off with Lord Thrym.”

The guard that had been left by his fellows to stand by the door of the royal chambers, the same one that had attempted to comfort Loki before Thrym’s arrival, heard the quiet words. Silently, he agreed.


End file.
